Hemmer Hammers Obama Spokesman

Sep 20, 2012

RUSH: This is pretty good. Bill Hemmer this morning on Fox News Channel, title of the show, America’s Newsroom. He had the Obama campaign press secretary on, a guy named Ben LaBolt, and Hemmer hammered the guy. All this guy wants to talk about is Romney, and Hemmer hammers the guy on Libya. Question: “The administration is now confirming that the deaths of four Americans last week in Benghazi came as a result of a terror attack on September 11th. It was not a spontaneous protest, as the consulate has previously suggested. How damaging is this to your campaign when it comes to perceptions of foreign policy and keeping Americans safe?”

LABOLT: In terms of the situation in Libya, I’d refer you to the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center’s testimony yesterday. They’re conducting an investigation right now to find out who perpetrated this violence and to bring them to justice. Listen, Governor Romney weighed in before he had a full set of facts about a developing situation. We’re not going to do that. The president isn’t somebody who shoots first and aims later.

RUSH: Whoa. Do you see how this works? See, I pointed it out with Stephanie Cutter. (paraphrasing) “Look, you guys are really blowing it in the Middle East. I mean, you got a situation here keeping Americans safe. You may not be able to keep Americans safe, blaming it on this video and so forth.” Look at Mitt Romney. Look at Mitt Romney. Romney weighed in. You know, the problem is, Romney said the same thing Obama said, only said it first. Romney ripped that statement that came out of the Cairo embassy. Well, so did the regime later. Obama and the boys walked back that statement, that pre-apology. The difference is, Romney looked presidential. We can’t have that.

Romney got nothing wrong in what he said, and the problem for these guys is that Mitt Romney did look like the president. That’s why they’ve gotta cut it down, and that’s why they’ve gotta stop it. But Hemmer does what all journalists used to do. He doesn’t let him get away with this. Hemmer said, “The president has addressed the American people officially on one occasion in the Rose Garden. Will he address this again and clear up a story that changes by the hour?” What he’s saying is, look, you guys and the president are saying that the video’s responsible. We now know that that wasn’t the case at all. Will the president have another meeting or appearance and straighten this out?

LABOLT: A career national security official shared with the American people the information that we have about this situation.

HEMMER: I understand that, but you know —

LABOLT: At this time we’re not going to engage in speculation —

HEMMER: Understood. But everybody watching this —

LABOLT: — like Governor Romney tends to do.

HEMMER: — everybody watching this knows that President Obama is the commander-in-chief. It’s his job. Will he address the American people and clear up these stories?

LABOLT: Well, listen, the administration testified before Congress yesterday and shared the information that we have at this time. Let’s talk about what the contrast here is with the other side. Governor Romney is somebody who hasn’t outlined a foreign policy. He hasn’t outlined a plan for America’s relations with any region of the world. He hasn’t outlined a plan to end the war in Afghanistan. He didn’t mention Al-Qaeda.

RUSH: Yeah. Hemmer tries one more time. So LaBolt doesn’t care about anything but criticizing Romney, which is his job. But Hemmer is doing, in this, what journalists used to do.

HEMMER: You have a dead US ambassador, one of our leading members fighting this war overseas — a man of enormous respect — and he is gone.

LABOLT: That’s right. And that’s why the administration, uh, is engaged, uh, 24 hours a day in investigation right now to find out exactly who perpetrated that violence.

HEMMER: I got you.

LABOLT: The officials are working around the clock.

HEMMER: I want to move on. I just want to be clear on this: There is no plan right now for President Obama to tell the American people what happened?

LABOLT: The administration will constantly update, uh, the American people, uh, as soon as, uh, new information is known.

RUSH: And what we know now is that Mitt Romney came out, shot before he aimed. He didn’t know what he was talking about; he didn’t look good saying it, and he didn’t even talk about Al-Qaeda.